Cable pulling and tightening device



Nov. 14, 1950 c. A. KUNKEL CABLE PULLING AND TIGHTENING DEVICE Filed March 27, 1948 IN VEN TOR. CHARL 5 A. Kl/NKEL Patented Nov. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a cable pulling or tightening device and more particularly relates to a device adapted for removing vehicle brake cables from cable housings and for other cable pulling and tightening.

An object of this invention has been to provide a device for pulling or tightening a wire or cable.

An emergency brake cable or other cable of a vehicle may become firmly fixed within a cable housing because of corrosion, rusting, the introduction of foreign matter within the housing, and the like, and it has been a, further object of this invention to provide a device capable of exerting a powerful force upon a cable lengthwise of the cable housing for freeing the cable from the housing.

A further object of this invention has been to provide a brake cable puller which can be fastened firmly to a plate of the brake assembly.

The above and other objects may be attained by the means described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing a cable pulling nd tightening device constructed in accordance with this invention, the device being shown attached to a backing or support plate of a vehicle brake.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the device shown in Figure 1, the brake back plate and part of a housing and an operating lever being broken away and in section for clarity of detail.

Figure 3 is a sectional view, the section being taken on line 3--3 in Figure 2. I

Figure 4 is a sectional view, the section being taken on line 44 in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a sectional view, the section being taken on line 55 in Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a sectional view, the section being taken on line 65 in Figure 2.

Briefly, the device includes a clamp of special construction for attaching a pulling means or jack to an edge of a brake back plate, the clamp being attachable in such manner as to place the jack in an advantageous position to exert pull substantially in line with a cable housing. The device furnishes also a means for attaching an end of the cable to the jack for exerting a pull on the each I-shaped member.

shown, and a wheel cylinder I6 connected with a hydraulic braking system of the vehicle may effect normal hydraulic operation of the brake shoes I2 and I3. An emergenc brake cable H, which passes through a housing I8 may operate the brake shoes I2 and I3 through linkage, not shown, for parking or emergency use. The housing I8 may be attached to the back plate Ill and to the Vehicle frame in any appropriate manner.

As indicated in Figure 2, the back plate I!) may have a peripheral lip I9 and a clamp 2I may be firmly fixed to the plate I0 at the lip I9. Details of the structure of the clamp 2| are shown in Figures 2 and 3. The clamp 2I may include two main members 22 and 23 which can rock about pins 24 and 26 respectively. As shown in Figure 3, the pins 24 and 26 may pass through a cross bar 21, the pins being spaced'apart parallel to each other and located near the ends of the cross bar 2'! so that, as shown, the members 22 and 23 may be spaced apart and can rotate about the pins 24 and 26. Each of the members 22 and 23 may be of I- shaped cross-section, the cross bar 2'! extending through cut away portions of the central rib of The upper member 22, as shown may include upper and lower lengthwise grooves or channels 28 and 29 while the lower member 23 may include similar upper and lower lengthwise grooves or channels 3I and 32. Formed integrally with the cross bar 2'! may be a stud or screw 33 extending between the channels 29 and 3|. The stud 33 may be threaded within a cone shaped tip 34 of a rod 36, which rod will be described in greater detail below, and the cone shaped tip 34 may be turned and advanced along the stud 33 to engage the channels 29 and SI spreading the right-hand ends of the members 22 and 23 (Figure 2) to rotate the members about the pins 24 and 28 to bring the left hand ends of the members 22 and 23 toward one another.

As shown in Figure 1, the clamp 2i may be narrow at the end which cooperates with the cone shaped tip 34, expanding toward the other end where it can grip the back plate Ill. The lower member 23 may be equipped with transverse slots 31, 38, 39, and M across ribs 42 and 43 which form walls of the channel 3! for receiving the lip I9. The slots 3'! and 38, as shown, may be in the rib 42 while the slots 39 and 41 may be in the rib 43, the slots 3'! and 39 being aligned as are the slots 38 and M. When the cone shaped tip 34 is advanced along the stud 33, it may force the left hand side of the member 22 downwardly against the plate I0 to cause the lip I9 to be gripped, as shown in Figure 2. If desired, the clamp 2| may be mounted, as shown in Figure 1, with the lip l9 passing through the slots 3'5 and 4| to mount the clamp 2| and rod 36 in line with the cable I! and housing l8 and t an angle with a radius of the back plate IE]. A spring 44 may be provided between the members 22 and 23, the spring being seated as in seats 45 for holding the members 22 and 23 against the cone shaped tip 34 and for releasing the clamp 2| from the back plate l when the cone shaped tip 34 is retracted.

As shown most clearly in Figure 2, the rod 36 is a compression rod and carries a jack housing 46 movable lengthwise of the rod 36, and the housing 46, as shown, may include mechanism of the type generally employed in a bumper jack for a vehicle. Adjacent the cone shaped tip 34, the rod 36 may be equipped with a ring 4'! defining, with the tip 3 2-, a gripping section 48 having flats 49 to which a wrench may be applied for turning the rod 36 and tightening the tip 34 against the clamp 25. As shown, the rod 36 may be rotatable within the housing t8 Without affecting the mechanism thereof so that the tip 34 can be tightened against the clamp 2| without turning the housing 46.

The mechanism within the housing 46 for moving the housing 46 along the rod 36 may include a series of holding plates and a series of driving plates 52, details of construction of the holding plates 5| being shown in Figure 5 and details of construction of the driving plates 52 being shown in Figure 6.

As shown in Figure l, the rod 38 may pass through bores 53 and E i at opposite ends of the housing 46 so that the housing 45 may be slideable along and rotatable about the rod 36. The holding plates 5| may be in the form of a series of plates of hard metal, each of the plates having a central bore fitting about the rod 3'6. An edge 55 of each plate 5i may fit through a slot 5i in a wall 58 of the housing 46 and the plates 5| can swing about the slot 5? to bind the housing 46 to the rod 36 for preventing movement of the housing 46 toward the clamp 2|. A ring 59 of spring material may be provided bearing against the plates 5| and firmly fixed to a shoulder 6| within the housing 4 6 for urging the plates 5| into position for engagement with the rod 36. A plate may be longer than the other plates 5| and have a finger 53 extending through an opening in a side of the housing 45-, and the plates 5| may be releasable from engagement with the rod 35 by movement of the finger 63 toward the clamp 2 As shown in Figures 2 and 6, the driving plates 52 me. be in the form of a series of fiat plates of hard metal generally similar to the plates 5|. Each of the plates 52 may have a central bore fitting about the rod 36. An end 66 of each plate 52 may fit into and be held in a well 6'! in the wall 58, and the plates 52 can swing about the well 51. A ring 68 of spring metal may be provided surrounding the rod 86 and bearing on the plates 52 to hold the plates 52 away from the clamp 2|, the ring 68 being fixed to a shoulder 69 within the housing 46.

The plates 52 may be rocked about the well 61 by a driving lever 7!, and the driving lever l| may swing about a pivot pin 12 attached to the housing 46. The lever H may have a bifurcated head forming arms (3 and 14 through which the pivot pin 72 can pass. A hollow arm attached to and extending awa from the arms 13 and 14 may form a socket for an elongated handle 16 for operating the lever H, only a portion of the handle 16 being shown. The arms 13 and 14 may be linked to the plates 52 by a clip 11, which may surround extending ends 18 of the plates 52. The clip 11 in turn may be pivoted to the arms 13 and 14 to swing about a pin 19 which passes through the arms 73 and M. The pin 19 may bear on the extending ends 78 of the plates 52 to drive the plates upon swinging of the lever II in the direction indicated by an arrow in Figure 2.

The brake cable I! may be connected to the housing 46 by means of a turnbuckle sleeve 82 and a long screw 83 threaded in an end 84 of the turnbuckle sleeve 82. The head of the screw 83 may be pivoted, as shown, to a lug 86 or to a pair of such lugs extending from the housing 46. The other end 87 of the turnbuckle sleeve 82 may be slotted, as shown at 88 in Figure 4 to receive the cable I], and a sphere or head 89 at the end of the cable Il may rest within the sleeve 82 to anchor the cable.

A suitable coupling member or hanger 9| may be attached to the free end of the rod 36. The member 9| may be of any desired shape or size and may be used to adapt the device for pulling or tightening fence wire, guys, and the like, as will be explain-ed more fully below.

The operation of the cable pulling and tightening device will be understood from the foregoing detailed description and from the drawing.

The clamp 2| may be attached to the brake back plate 48 by turning the rod 36 and cone shaped tip 34 to advance the tip 34 between the members 22 and 23 causing the clamp 2| to grip the lip I9 of the plate l9. As shown in Figure 2, the member 22 can rest against the surface of the back plate l0 while the lip I9 of the back plate is held in slots in the member 23 to hold the back plate l9 firmly between the members 22 and 23 and position the rod to extend outside the back plate It, the rod 36 and the back plate |0 being held firmly in relative position.

The turnbuckle sleeve 32 can be adjusted to grip the sphere 89 at the end of the cable ll. Then the lever II can be swung about the pivot pin l2 to advance the housing 46 along the rod 36, the plates 52 gripping the rod 36 for driving the housing 45, the plates 5| engaging the rod 36 during return strokes of the lever TI to hold the housing 46 against sliding toward the clamp 2| during the return strokes.

As will be apparent, a powerful pull may be exerted by the device lengthwise of the cable housing H! for pulling the cable I! from the housing l8 so that notwithstanding corrosion and rusting of the cable |l within the housing l8, the cable can be pulled free. Moreover, as shown in Figure 1, the device may be mounted with the rod 36 parallel to the ground and the device may be operated simply by horizontal movement of the handle 56, and the handle '16 can extend outwardly from the vehicle into position for ready operation.

By use of the member 9|, the device may be adapted for pulling or tightening wire for a fence or the like. The member 9|, for this purpose may be fastened to or fitted over a fence post or stake, and the turnbuckle sleeve may be attached to an end of a fence wire and the wire tightened by advancing the housing 46 along the rod 36, as heretofore explained.

A plate type jack of the type shown has found particular value as a part of the device, but other types of jack structures may be substituted. The cone shaped tip 34 of the rod 36 may, as shown,

be integral with the rod 36, or a separate element may be used to rotate the members 22 and 23 to operate the clamp 2|. Various other modifications of the structure can be made Within the spirit of the invention, and the invention is not intended to be limited by the foregoing detailed description and by the drawin except as set out in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A brake cable pulling device which comprises a compression rod, a jack housing mounted on and slidable along the rod, means for locking the jack housing to the rod against movement in one direction, means including a handle for advancing the jack housing along the rod in the opposite direction, means on the jack housing for securing a brake cable thereto, means at the end of the rod from which the jack housing is advanceable for securing the rod to a brake drum comprising a screw threaded in an axial bore in said end of the rod, a transverse bar attached to said screw remote from said rod, a pair of jaw members mounted on said transverse bar, at least one of said jaw members being pivotally mounted on said transverse bar, each of said jaw members having a portion on one side of the transverse bar engageable with said end of the rod and a gripping face disposed on the other side of the transverse bar, said rod being rotatable in said jack housing to drive said end of the rod against the jaw members to urge the gripping faces thereof together.

CHARLES A. KUNKEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

